Related Keywords: block printing, cotton fabric, expo organized, hand printing, Kalamkari art form, Kolkata, Machilipatnam style, natural colour, painting on textile, Srikalahasti style, Tapis Moghol, textile gallery of the Indian Museum, vegetable dye
Kalamkari or Qalamkari is an art form of hand printing or block printing normally done on cotton fabrics using only vegetable dyes or natural colours. Kalamkari paintings on textiles is said to have originated and flourished in India, possible in Tanjore, in the late 16th or early 17th century under the patronage of the Mughal emperors. But, with the passage of time the ancient art form Kalamkari has faded into stupor.